


December 4th: Miracle on G Street

by Rivermoon1970



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, Christmas Fluff, M/M, Pre-Slash, ProfilersForChristmas2016, Santa is Real, skeptical characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-02 09:08:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8660992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivermoon1970/pseuds/Rivermoon1970
Summary: It was supposed to be just a simple trip to Macy's so Jack could see Santa. What it turned into was so much more.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [ProfilersForChristmas2016](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/ProfilersForChristmas2016) collection. 



Aaron was in the very long line at Macy’s so Jack could see Santa Claus. They had done most of their shopping already, Aaron had wanted to get ahead of the game. He already had the office taken care of, the other lawyers and paralegals as well as the secretaries. Aaron never questioned going out on his own and leaving the DOJ, he was happier and the firm of Hotchner, Kinnison, and Marks was doing quite well. He was checking his PDA and keeping an eye on Jack when he heard a voice behind him.

“I didn’t know I’d see you here. I thought you hated shopping.” Aaron looked up to see his neighbor, Spencer Reid, and his son James.

“Normally I do, but Jack wanted to see Santa.” Aaron smiled softly. His stomach flipped a little when he looked at Spencer, it always did when the single father was around him.

“Santa isn’t real, right Dad?” James, the blond little boy looked up in earnest at his father.

“Actually, James, Santa Claus as we see him in popular culture is not a real person, but there was a Saint Nicholas in a part of Greece that is now Turkey. He was a devout Christian who had turned from worldly possessions and dedicated his life to helping the poor and the needy. There are many tales about Nicholas and the deeds attributed to him are numerous. In Germany, the tales of Saint Nicholas grew and morphed into what we now know as Santa Claus.”

“So Santa isn’t real.” James furrowed his brow and Aaron was trying to stifle the chuckle that wanted to escape.

“No Jamie, Santa isn’t real.” 

“Yes he is,” Jack turned and glared at James and Spencer while he crossed his arms over his chest. “Santa is real.” 

Spencer looked up at Aaron and the pained expression on his face had Aaron letting out that chuckle he was holding onto.

“I’m sorry Aaron. I didn’t mean to upset Jack.”

Aaron ruffled Jack’s hair a little to try to help settle him down. 

“Hey buddy, you can believe what you want to, okay?” Aaron turned and smiled at Spencer. “Why don’t you guys join us? After, we’re going to Firefly for lunch.”

Spencer bit his lip a moment as he contemplated, and a part of Aaron wanted to reach out and pull his lip down to stop him, but it was so endearing that he just smiled.

“Okay. That sounds like fun.” Spencer moved in behind Aaron before more people decided to show up. The line was slow going, each child taking their time, parents paying for pictures, and Santa handing a small gift and candy cane to each child. When it was Jack’s turn he was practically bouncing on his feet as he made a beeline for Santa’s lap.

“Wow, he’s sure excited to see Santa.” Spencer’s eyebrows were high as he watched the little boy.

Aaron couldn’t help the slight pain that flitted across his face.

“Jack and Haley used to do this before she passed. I’ve tried to keep it up for him.”

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry, I didn’t even think…”

“It’s okay Spencer, you didn’t do anything wrong.” Aaron swallowed hard and looked over to see Jack’s picture was done. He moved to the cashier and paid for the picture, and waited for it to be printed. Meanwhile he watched as James slowly moved up to the man on the throne-like chair. He watched as they talked with an intensity he rarely saw in kids James’s age. The boy was frowning and he pulled on the man’s beard, his eyes widened. They talked for a few more minutes and something said in James’s ear had him hugging the department store Santa, the smile wide, showing his missing front teeth. Aaron couldn’t help the smile on his face and knew the picture was going to be adorable.

Spencer paid for the picture and the four of them left the department store.

“Did you bring your car?”

“No, we took the train.”

“Why don’t I give you guys a lift then?”

Spencer did that thing with his lip again and Aaron almost groaned in the back of his throat. He had been trying to tell himself that he wasn’t attracted to the tall, lanky man with unruly hair, but he was. It started almost from the moment he had moved right across he hall from him and grew as they kept passing each other, or Aaron inviting him over for coffee late in the day. Their friendship hadn’t gone past that, but he knew he wanted to ask Spencer out. And this was just perfect.

Aaron had already put in his name at the restaurant, but asked if they could get a larger table for four. The hostess just smiled and led to them to a table near the indoor tree. The boys were very excited about that as they all sat down and were handed their menus. They put in their drink orders and waited for their waitress..

Jack and James were across from each other and deep in discussion about a book series they both loved and Aaron turned to look at Spencer.

“I’ve been meaning to ask what it is you do.”

“You mean for a living?"

“Yes, for a living,” Aaron couldn’t help the amusement on his face.

“Oh, I’m a researcher in the archives at the Library of Congress. I’m in one of the annexes that deals with the rare and priceless books. I also do restorations.”

“That must be tedious.”

“It can be, but I love it. I used to work at the FBI, but after finding out about James, and the fact his mother didn’t want the responsibility, I left. Wanted to be home with him as much as possible.”

Aaron couldn’t help being upset for both Spencer and James. He didn’t ever understand parents that didn’t want their children.

“I know first hand it isn’t easy being a single parent. I ah, I’m glad you showed up at Macy’s.” Aaron felt the heat rise up on his cheeks. “I’ve been wanting to ask you out for a while.”

“Really?” Spencer blushed himself and couldn’t hide the smile.

“Yes, really. And I’d like to take you out on a date. A real date, just the two of us.” Aaron had to wait for their server to finish setting their food down before he heard Spencer’s answer.

“I’d like that.” Spencer ducked his head down and let the soft curls hide the blush. 

“Tomorrow night? Say around 7pm? And if you need someone to watch James, my sister-in-law will be more than willing. She’s going to watch Jack for me.”

“Oh, ah, okay.”

“Okay. That’s settled then.”

The men and boys ate in comfortable silence, then Aaron took them home. It was later than he realized, but it had been a very pleasant afternoon. He sat and watched a movie with Jack as they had a light dinner. As he put Jack to bed, there was a breaking news story. Aaron shut Jack’s door then went to his room to see what was going on.

“...We don’t know more than that at this time, but what we do know is the very beloved and popular department store Santa, Mr. Nicholas Pride, has been taken into custody over an altercation in the store. One of the children he had been speaking with had declared that she knew he was the real Santa Claus. What seemed like an innocent statement from a very hopeful little girl, unfortunately, turned into a small riot. Though, Mr. Pride’s presence in the store has helped Macy’s with their flagging sales, he was fired over the incident and now parents and children are very upset….” Aaron frowned then went to his computer and dug into the story even more.

When the knock on his door came, Aaron wasn’t surprised it was Spencer.

“I just heard. I’ve been looking into it.”

“James is very upset. All evening he’s been talking about Santa and how he’s real. I don’t know where this came from, I’ve never been overly fanciful with him, wanting him to understand the difference between fantasy and reality. He always understood that Santa Claus was just a construct, a representation of what Christmas should be about, not the religious parts of the pagan holiday that was appropriated by the Catholic Church…..” He continued to ramble and pace around the room till Aaron stopped him.

“Spencer, calm down. I’m sure there is a perfectly logical explanation for James’s feelings. Now, I called the station and so far no one has come forward as his counsel. I’m going down there to see what I can do. Do you mind watching Jack?”

“No, um can you bring him to my place? I’d feel more comfortable there.”

“Not a problem.” Aaron quickly got Jack up and across the hall. He settled him on the couch and the boy went right back to sleep. He thanked Spencer then went home and changed into a suit, grabbing his briefcase he went down to the station.

Several hours and bad cups of coffee later, Aaron knew Mr. Pride wasn’t insane like the HR manager of Macy’s was trying to make him sound.

“Mr. Pride, I know for a fact you are completely of sound mind and body, but I’d like one of my staff psychologists to do some cognitive reasoning tests to show the courts.”

“That’s fine Mr. Hotchner.” Aaron lifted a brow when he thought he saw a bit of a twinkle in the man’s eye. “And how is the young man you are pursuing?” The grin was mischievous.

“And how did you know that?”

“What if I said I was Santa Claus?”

“Then I’d say you were a conman, but you haven’t really done anything wrong, we can easily show that the girl you were last talking to was the start of the incident.” 

“Please don’t be to hard on her. She just wants her mother to come home from overseas. I’m very confident that she will make it home in time for Christmas.”

“Is that what you told her?”

“Yes.”

“You know you shouldn’t make promises that you can’t keep Mr. Pride.”

“You mean like the one I made to young James?”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t worry Mr. Hotchner, you’ve already started.” Aaron frowned deeply at this conversation. He came to the conclusion, though, that Mr. Pride was just an odd man who liked to play a dress-up Santa. He thought that maybe arbitration was the key, here. He knew he could keep it out of a courtroom.

“Well, I’ll have Jennifer come and talk to you later today. You sit tight and I’m sure this will be over quickly.”

“I have no doubt about that Aaron.”

Shaking his head Aaron got up and started to leave the room, “Oh, did you ever find that 1943 copper penny you’ve been looking for?” Aaron stopped and turned to look at the man.

“H-how did you know?”

Mr. Pride just smiled and that damn twinkle was back in his eye. Aaron left, slightly shaken. He decided not to go into the office, but called JJ to have her go in and do the evaluation on Mr. Pride. After he went home, first stopping at Spencer’s apartment.

“Hey, how’d it go?” Spencer asked as he walked in.

“Interesting. The guy is far from crazy, he is a little odd, but I believe we can clear this up by not going to court. My in-house psychologist is going over there today to do a full workup on him.”

“Daddy?” Spencer turned to see a sleepy James come into the room.

“Hey kiddo, come here.” James ran over when Spencer sat on the couch. He told him what happened, with Aaron filling in some of it. What neither man expected was James’s reaction.

“But he is Santa, Daddy, he really, really is.” James’s eyes filled with tears as he he looked between the two men. “You gotta help him Mr. Hotch you just gotta.” Aaron almost chuckled at the boy calling him Mr. Hotch.

“Buddy, I will do the best I can, but can you tell me why you think he’s really Santa?” James bit his lip as bowed his head a bit.

“I told him I wanted Daddy happy, then, well, at lunch he looked really happy. Santa said Daddy being happy was closer than I thought.”

The two men sucked in their breaths as James leaned into his father.

“Dad,” Jack came out of James’s room and ran to his father. He leaned up to whisper in his ear. “He told me the same thing. He really is Santa.” Before Aaron could respond his phone rang and when he looked it was JJ. He stood and moved to Spencer’s kitchen for a little privacy. The call didn’t take long, JJ had confirmed what he thought. He looked at the two boys, then smiled. He had an idea, he knew it was crazy, but it just might work.

“Jack, James, come here boys.” The two boys ran over to Aaron. “I have a very important mission for you two. I want you to get all your friends from the building, then Jack, you call all the ones in your phone book. I’m going to give you a time, and a place, you guys get there best you can. I have an idea.”

“Dad?”

“It’s a good thing Jack. Just, be ready, okay?”

“Okay.” The boys parted to get dressed and ready for their mission. Aaron chuckled at their enthusiasm as he walked back to the front room.

“I know a judge that owes me a favor. There is a community center where the kids can get to easily. I think this will be cleared up in no time.”

“Aaron, why are you doing all this?” Spencer stood and bit his lip looking at Aaron.

“Because your son, who didn’t believe in miracles, now does. He’s the most important person in your life, which makes him important to me.” Aaron admitted.

“Oh,” Spencer sighed and the small smile on his face told Aaron he had not made a mistake.

“I’ve got phone calls to make. But I’ll see you in a while.”

He didn’t give Spencer time to respond as he left the man’s apartment. He smiled to himself, then got down to business. 

Three hours later, after calling in favors and promises, Aaron had everything set. He found James and Jack in Jack’s room, their heads together plotting.

“Okay, you know where to meet and when. I promise you boys, this will work.”

“I trust you Dad.” Jack smiled and showed his confidence in his father.

“And I trust you Mr. Hotch.” Aaron’s heart melted at the hope and confidence the boys had in him. He ruffled their hair before leaving.

When he got to the community center, Mr. Pride, Judge Hoskins, the HR manager of Macy’s and a Mr. William Coats, overall manager for the store was there, as was JJ and another independent Psychologist.

“Counselor, this is highly unusual for you. Can you tell me what we are doing here two days before Christmas?” The judge said as he leaned forward at the head of the table.

“I’m not going to waste time Judge so I’ll get right to it. Mr. Pride was unduly fired, not by his own actions, but by the actions of one emotional child. He, in fact, tried to get said child to settle down. The fight broke out among the parents, which caused the children to scatter. The mess in the store was not Mr. Pride's doing.”

“But Counselor, that isn’t the only charges against him. There are allegations about his mental health.”

“Yes, but both Ms. Jareau, and the independent consultant can both attest to Mr. Prides sound mind.” JJ gave the judge her folder showing the tests she went through with the defendant, as did the consultant.

“Sir, this is highly irregular. This should be done in a court of law, not this, this basketball court.” The HR director glared at Aaron.

“The defendant has the right to be heard where he wishes. Now sit down and let me finish hearing what they have to say.” The Judge then turned to Mr. Pride.

“Do you, Mr. Nicholas Pride, believe yourself to be Santa Claus.”

“Judge, I believe no such thing, it is who I am.” That twinkle was back and Aaron just shook his head.

“And these reports say you are of sound mind and body. You aren’t crazy Mr. Pride…” The Judge trailed off what he was going to say when the room became flooded with children. “Counselor?”

“These are the children that have all spent time with Mr. Pride. Sir, it doesn’t really matter what we believe, or even what Mr. Pride believes. It matters what they believe, and if you ask any of them, they will tell you that Mr. Pride is Santa Claus. Is it really that much of a burden on Macy’s to let them have that little bit of joy and happiness?”

The children, Aaron, and everyone waited with bated breath for the Judge to decide what his ruling was going to be. It was a tense few moments when the man leaned forward again.

“I will side for the Defendant.” The cheer that went up was almost deafening as all the kids surged forward wanting to hug Mr. Pride.

Spencer, James, and Jack walked up to Aaron and hugged him close.

“You did it. You’re crazy, you know that?” Spencer laughed as he laid his head on Aaron’s shoulder.

Aaron smiled as he wrapped an arm around Spencer then leaned in and kissed him for the first time.

“I know, and this is just the beginning.”

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:**
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>  
> 
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> 
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> 
> What can I say, it's my favourite Christmas movie, both versions are great. I'm completely open as to how you get this into a CM story, add what/whoever you want. Surprise me!


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